Due to the problem that multiple ophthalmologists nationwide provided videos of surgery to medical device manufacturers without permission from patients and hospitals and received cash, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare began investigating the contents of the contract by interviewing the company. I found out by interviewing the people concerned.
In this issue, industry groups are also investigating that the purpose of cash provision may have been sales promotion of their own products, which was prohibited by self-regulatory rules, and the company said, "There may have been a compliance problem. I take the situation very seriously. "
Five ophthalmologists working at general hospitals nationwide are working with "Star Japan", a Japanese subsidiary of an American medical equipment manufacturer and headquartered in Urayasu City, Chiba Prefecture, for cataract surgery using the company's lenses. According to an interview with NHK, we signed a contract to create a video of the cataract and provided it to hospitals and patients without permission and received cash.
There are at least 10 ophthalmologists nationwide, including these five, who have signed similar contracts and received cash, and the total amount of cash provided has exceeded 7 million yen in the three years up to last year.
Regarding this problem, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, which has jurisdiction over the medical device manufacturer, has begun investigating the contents of the contract, such as receiving the submission of materials from the company side and starting hearing by the 17th. ..
In this issue, it is possible that the "Medical Device Industry Fair Trade Council" created by the medical device manufacturer industry also aimed to promote its own products, which was prohibited by the self-regulatory rules based on the prize labeling law. We are proceeding with the investigation.
On the other hand, each hospital where doctors work said that "the management under the Personal Information Protection Law was inappropriate", and the National Personal Information Protection Commission is also investigating the management system of surgical videos.
In response to NHK's interview, "Star Japan" stated that "there was a program to create teaching materials for surgical techniques using intraocular lenses" for these contracts, and "there may have been a problem in terms of compliance." We take the situation very seriously. We apologize for causing concern and inconvenience to medical staff, patients, and their families. "